Surprising Encounters
by PrettyLittleLiars23
Summary: What happens the night Aria runs away from Ezra in the woods? What if someone was there to find her? A different take on the ending of episode 4x20. One-Shot! Ariax(x) - A certain male character makes a reappearance (It's not Jake)


Surprising Encounters

_I wrote this one-shot for a few reasons. The first is because I wanted to know what would have happened if someone had found Aria in episode 4x20, when she's running from Ezra. The other reasons are listed at the end of this story, as spoilers are present. _

_Hope you guys enjoys this little piece! xoxo _

_If you think I should make it longer, or add another chapter, please don't hesitate to tell me what you think. _

Aria ran. Her feet pounded against the uneven ground of the Rosewood woods. Her breath came in scratchy rasps, clawing at her throat. She could hardly breathe at all. The night's events flooded her veins. The transcript she'd found inside the book on the cabin's coffee table. Ezra arriving. Stealing the document and running for her car, only to realise she'd left the keys inside.

She came to a shadowed clearing in the darkness and stopped to catch her breath once more. Her knees shook. Her mouth was dry. Posture bent for air. The images played over and over. Ezra knew. He knew.

Ali.

Who she was. She felt the pages of his writing inside her bag. A dead weight. Words she'd started to read, she no longer wanted to know. His unspoken words spoke volumes to her now.

A branch snapped. She gasped and whipped her head around. It was nothing.

"Aria?"

Turning back in front of her, she half expected to see him. Instead, she was met with only the darkness of the woods. He was close though. "Aria?" he called again.

Too close.

She didn't have much time. She needed to hide. Quiet as she could, she spotted a thick mess of branches that entangled themselves into a bush. If only she could stayed concealed long enough, she would have a chance of waiting him out. She hoped it would work.

"Aria, I know you're out there..." Ezra called "Aria you're hiding from me..." his voice an echo in the eerie woods. "Aria?"

Light on her feet, she ran to the twisted branches and buried herself into the dark haven of leaves and twigs. The movement itself caused a rustle.

"Aria?" His voice desperate, angry even, and it carried in the night breeze. A thousand times she'd heard that voice. Never had it sounded so alien to her. So foreign.

Clasping her hands over her mouth to the point where she couldn't breathe, she waited. Silence was her protector. She hung her head into her knees and curled into a ball, trying to conceal herself as much as possible. She hoped he'd give up when he couldn't find her. She'd wait all night if she had to.

Against the wind, his footsteps grew louder, grinding against the dirt and fallen leaves. He was close and her heart pounded. Glancing to her right, she barely made out his dark figure beneath the shelter of the leaves. Any slight movement and she'd give herself away.

"Why're you doing this, just come out and talk to me?" he pleaded.

She waited. He waited, standing in the darkness. Her breath caught. He was looking right at her. For one heart-wrenching moment she thought it was all over because he'd seen her. His eyes narrowed slightly, with a tilt of his head, as if trying to make out something. Oh god, he'd seen her. Aria burrowed deeper into the leaves and the silence was agony. Anticipation stretched... Why hadn't he called her?

A branch snapped somewhere close by and he turned. Ezra turned, and stalked away in the direction he'd come.

Aria released her breath slowly. Relief escaped her lungs as she saw his retreating figure be swallowed by the dark trees. She hadn't realised she'd been holding her breath for so long until it had escaped her. Her heart played the drums inside her chest. Waiting in silence, Aria listened for any sound, any footstep to indicate that he was still nearby. A hum of his voice, rustle of leaves, anything...

There was nothing. Nothing but open air and the cold wind.

She knew what she had to do now. It was now or never. She had to run. Before he came back.

With tiny movement she inched out of her burrow. Peeked her head through the leaves. There was no Ezra. She rose from her concealment.

And ran.

Passed the dark shadow of trees, towards the opening of the woods. Away from Ezra's cabin. Away from what she thought she knew. Tears ran down her cheeks as she pounded the dirt. Her knees giving way twice.

She needed to get as far from there as possible. Find a motel maybe, or somewhere to stay because she didn't have her car. She needed to call her friends and hear the safety their voices would bring, but her phone had died.

With the breath knocked out of her, she made it to the deserted road and continued down its path. Staying beneath the shadow of the trees, but still close to the road, she sprinted its length. The more she ran, the dizzier she got, yet the safer she felt. Something dropped from her jacket. Her phone she realised, as she bent to retrieve it. She lingered, debating whether to call The Rosewood Police as an emergency call, despite it being dead. Emergency calls always worked and her fingertips inched on the keyboard. Lingered.

Out of nowhere, headlights shone up ahead and before she had time to move, the blazing lights directed their gaze on her. Like an arrow going through its target. Squeezing her eyes shut, she shielded her face against the brightness. Anticipating it's passing, Aria waited, but to her horror it slowed. Opening her eyes, she prayed it wasn't Ezra's car. It was going in the opposite direction though.

The window to a shiny black BMW opened and the face that appeared made the hair on the back of her neck stand.

"Aria?"

Aria couldn't believe what she was seeing, or rather _who. _

"N-Noel?" she choked out.

Noel furrowed his eyebrows. "What're you doing here?" he asked, opening his driver door. The car hummed silently as he walked over to her. His expression changed to one of concern when he got a closer look at her. "What happened to you?" he demanded.

Aria didn't need a mirror to know she looked haggard, and distraught. Tears brimmed at the bottom of her eyes and she bit down hard on her jaw.

Aria stepped back. "W-what a-are you doing h-here?" she breathed, not meeting his eyes. She didn't want to look weak. Not now. Not in front of Noel Kahn.

He stepped forward. "I'm on my way to my parent's cabin," he answered "What happened?"

_Cabin_. The word itself was like ice. Memories of the cabin she had just escaped rushed into her mind. The trap door...the transcript of Ezra's stories about Ali...

"Aria?"

She looked up. "Nothing,"

"Doesn't look that way to me," he replied.

A branch snapped from a nearby tree in front of her and Aria cast her eyes to catch the twig fall to the ground. If she didn't move quickly, that twig could turn into a footstep. She looked back at Noel "I just need to get out of here" she pleaded. Her voice shook.

Noel's chest sank, and he gave a quick nod. She could tell from his grave expression that he'd curb the questioning for now, as she wasn't ready to give an answer. He gestured to his car and Aria followed him, gratefully. Circling until she got to the passenger side, she slid into the black leather seats and closed her door. A sigh escaped her. She was safe, and that's when the irony hit her. She felt safe with someone she was sure hated her, and in danger of someone she thought loved her.

Pulling the car into drive, Noel watched her. "Where to Montgomery?" he asked.

"Home."

Noel backed the car into drive "Home it is."

Aria didn't know how long they'd been driving for. Minutes, hours? It was all a blur to her. All she knew was that the car ride was silent. The sound of a pin drop would have been like someone screaming. Noel kept his eyes on the road, but occasionally, she'd catch him sneak glances at her. Secretly she was hoping he wouldn't ask any more questions.

Resting her head in her hand, Aria sat in a daze. So many questions played in her mind. Ezra? Ali? He knew. Had he always known? Did he know who she was when they met? She gripped her hand tight and clenched her jaw to stop from crying again. Blinking, she tossed her hair over her eyes, so that the tears which did escape weren't visible to Noel.

Moments later, Noel spoke. "You ever gonna tell me why you were playing solitaire in the middle of the road?" he asked, before turning down a side street.

Aria didn't answer.

He exhaled in frustration and she saw his hands grip the steering wheel. "Are you in trouble?" he finally said, his voice took on a dark tone. "Is someone...I dunno, after you?"

I guess it wasn't that surprising to Aria that he would ask that. She'd had more than her fair share of trouble over the last 3 years. "I'm not in that kind of trouble," she answered gently. For once, it wasn't A trouble.

"What kind of trouble then?" he pressed.

Avoiding the question, she turned to look out her window. The night sky was a jet black slate against the bright lights of the Rosewood neighbourhood. A stark contrast to the dark woods. The night absent of stars.

"Is it Mr. Fitz?"

Aria met his eyes. She knew from the understanding which creeped into his face, that he'd nailed his own question.

"I don't wanna talk about it..." she said. _Mr. Fitz. _Who was he?

"Did he hurt you?" Noel demanded.

"No," she retorted.

Noel's jaw was set hard in agitation. She didn't owe him an explanation. Yes, he helped her, but that didn't mean she was about to discuss her feelings with him. _Him _of all people. The brief history they had (if you could call it that), reared its head and again, Aria found herself cursing the irony.

Silence filled the car once more...

After what felt like an eternity of driving, Aria finally saw her street. Noel drove slowly down the quiet row of houses, not a body in sight. The only sound was his car tires on the road. Eventually, they reached her house, and never had she been more happy to see it. He pulled into Aria's driveway.

Relief surged through her when she saw the familiar stone brick house. The lights were on upstairs, someone was home. Aria threw off her seatbelt and opened the door.

"Aria-" Noel grabbed her arm.

She turned to look at him, about to tell him to let her go. Yet, when she saw his face, she stopped herself. That snark and vindictive exterior he usually saved for her wasn't there. Instead, she saw just a guy.

He released her arm. "I know it's none of my business, but are you really gonna be okay?" he asked. "After whatever went down tonight?" he shrugged.

Whatever mixed feelings there were with Noel, she was surprised to find herself touched by his concern. She bit her bottom lip debating...and finally sighed.

"I don't know anymore..." she murmured.

Looking down, she let her curtain of dark hair cover her face. "Thank you..." she whispered.

With that, Aria opened the passenger door and got out of Noel Kahn's car.

She raced up the wooden steps to her house and opened the door. In the glass's reflection, she saw the headlights of the car fade away as Noel backed out of her driveway.

Aria rushed up the stairs to her bedroom but before she got there, she was confronted with Mike coming out of the bathroom.

"Aria?"

Aria couldn't stop herself any longer. Her breath caught and she ran into her brother's arms before bursting into tears.

_**Author's Note - **__Now, if you know who Noel is, then you know his story with Aria (in the TV show) and it has always felt 'unfinished' to me. I wanted to give him the chance to interact with her again, in a way that was less antagonistic than what is seen on the T.V show. He went from sweet, to creepy, to I don't know what at this point, now that we're up to season 5. But, as I said, I felt like his story with Aria was left on a bad note, and this is just something I came up with. Thirdly, I always preferred Aria and Noel together, because I felt Lucy and Brant had better chemistry, and I wanted to write something with them. but didn't know what. Also, this scene takes place in 4x20, just after Aria has found Ezra's book about Alison, and runs from the cabin, into the woods. I've changed some things around, so it is not exactly like the scene from 4x20, like for example, there is no Ski ledge, Aria never gets to that, so that whole conversation with Ezra at that part, doesn't exist in the story. I tried to keep the character's as close to how they are portrayed on T.V. _


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